Valve construction for pressurized fluid dispensers



uvg- 22, 1967 A. v. DE MoLxN ETAL 3,337,124

VALVE CONSTRUCTION FOR PRBSSURIZED FLUID DISPENSERS Filed April 15, 1966United States Patent O 3,337,124 VALVE CONSTRUCTION FOR PRESSURIZEDFLUID DISPENSERS Arrigo Varettoni De Molin, S8 Layfayette Ave., ParkRidge, NJ. 07656, and Sidney D. Barlow, 232 Magnolia Ave., Mount Vernon,N.Y. 10552 Filed Apr. 15, 1966, Ser. No. 542,772 1 Claim. (Cl. 230-169)ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention contemplates the provision ofa pressurizing valve which may be pre-assembled to include an orificedcasing, rst and second valve members having disaligned orifices, one ofsaid valve members being flexible with respect to the other, and abulb-like member for manu-ally forcing air through said valve members.The casing member forms means for holding the valve construction -inassembled condition, and is of circular configuration so as to beinsertable into the end of a circular tube, following which the tube maybe headed over to retain the valve in hermetically sealed relationtherewith. The inventive method includes the steps of enlarging'the endof the tube to form a seat for the valve, and a free edge which may beheaded over upon the valve casing, whereby filling and assembly of thedevice with which the valve construction is used may be facilitated.

v This invention Irelates generally to the field of fluid dispensers, asexemplified by ballpoint marking devices, and more particularly to animproved valve construction for creating a pressure differential withinthe dispenser to assist or replace capillary action in the `dispensingof a fluid. Addition-ally, the invention contemplates the filling andassembling of pressurized fluid dispensers using the within disclosedvalve construction. Devices of this .general type are known in the art,and the invention lies in the specific constructional details permittingease of assembly, and reduced cost of manufacture.

In devices'ofthis type, it has been accepted practice to resort toso-called slit valves, in which the valve member is formed of aresilient synthetic resinous material .in which an elongated slit hasbeen cut through'the plane of the material, the cut edges of the slitforming a valve. To maintain a unidirectional valve action, the'valvemember is abutted against 1a similarly shaped relatively inflexibleplate having an eccentrically disposed opening which passes air underthe laction of a compressed bulb of generally hemisphericalconfiguration disposed on the opposite side of said plate, whereby theslit permits the passage of air in a direction away from the plate, butnot in a reverse direction. This type of construction, while useful,requires the assembly within the tube forming the uppe'r portion of thefluid dispenser of five individual components, and the subsequentheading over of the end of the t-ube to maintain the components inproper herrnetically sealed position, all of the above assemblyprocedure being of necessity performed after the tube has been filledwith the fluid :to be dispensed. In order to avoid spilling of thematerial, the tube must be jigged, and the individual componentsassembled by hand.

It is -among the principal objects of the present inventionto provide animproved valve construction which may be preassembled as a small unitand inserted into the free end of a filled tube as part of an automatedassembly procedure utilizing only a single station for assembly.

Another object of the invention lies in the provision of -an improvedslit valve construction, in which not only ice the components thereofmay be readily fabricated Without reso-rt to extensive tooling, but inwhich the components may be assembled in an automated or semi-automatedfashion.

Yet another object of the invention lies in the provi-sion of animproved valve construction, possessed of the above advant-ages, inwhich the cost of fabrication may be of a very low order, substantiallyless than the cost of existing equivalent constructions.

A further object of the invention lies in the provision of -an improvedvalving construction which may be substantially imprevious to thedeleterious effects of organic solvents, moisture, grease, and otheringredients of relatively heavy, -grease-base inks.

A feature `of the invention lies in the fact that the novel constructionherein disclosed may be .incorporated into existing types of fluiddispensers, with little if any modification.

Another feature of the invention lies in the complete shielding of thepressurizing means from exposure to the dispensed fluid.

These objects and features, as Well as other incidental ends andadvantages, will more fully appear in the progress of the followingdisclosure, and be pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawing, to which reference will be made in the specification,similar reference characters have been employed to `designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIGURE l is a fragmentary view in elevation of an embodiment -of theinvention.

FIGURE 2 is an exploded view in perspective of a valve sub-assemblyforming `an element of the embodiment.

FIGURE 3 is a view in elevation of a first valve member forming a partof the sub-assembly of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is Aa view in elevation of Ia second valve member forming apart of said sub-assembly.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a stage of assembly ofthe completed embodiment.

FIGURE 6 is a similar View showing a subsequent stage of assembly.

, In accordance with the invention, the device, generally indicated byreference `character 10, is illustrated in FIG- URE 1 in the drawing ininstalled condition within =a conventional marking pen 11, said penincluding an elongated barrel 12 of cylindrical configuration, and adispensing tip 13, the details of which form no part of the presentdisclosure. The barrel 12 may be formed from extruded metallic tubing,and includes an enlarged end portion 14, terminating in a headed-overupper edge portion 15, beneath which the device 10 is positioned. Thedevice 10 comprises broadly: a flexible bulb member 16, an orificedvalve casing member 17, a first or upper valve member 18, and a secondor lower valve member 19.

The flexible bulb member 16 may be of generally hemispherical shape, asis well known in the art, and includes an inner surface 22, an outersurface 23, and a generally arcuate edge bead 24. Extending between theinner and outer surfaces 22 and 23 is a generally centrally disposedorifice 25 permitting the passage of air, said orifice being selectivelycovered by the thumb of the user when the member 16 is compressed toforce air through the members 17-19, inclusive.

The valve casing member 17 is preferably formed as a metallic stampingand drawing operation, `and includes a generally planar portion 29having a relatively large centrally disposed orifice 30 extendingbetween upper and lower surfaces 31 and 32, respectively. The edge 33 ofthe planar portion 29 terminates in a beaded portion 34 E 'leading to acylindrical portion 35, the upper free edge 36 -of which is headed overto retain the device 10 therein.

The first -or upper valve member 1S is also preferably formed las ametallic disc-like stamping, and includes an upper surface 39, a lowersurface 40, and a peripheral edge 41. An eccentrically disposed orifice42 extends between the upper and lower surfaces 39-40, the degree ofeccentricity being less than the radius of the orifice 30, `so as to liewithin the area of the same when the members 17 and 18 are placed injuxtaposed coaxial relation.

The second or lower valve member 19 is preferably formed from a suitableelastomeric membranous material of natural or synthetic resinous type,such as natural rubber, synthetic rubber, nylon or polyethylene, or anyother elastomeric material suiiiciently inert to the deleterious effectsof the solvents and other ingredients employed in the manufacture of thedispensed material. It corresponds in configuration to that of the uppervalve member 18, and includes an upper surface 45 and a lower surface46, as well as a peripheral edge 47. A relatively centrally disposedslit 48 extends between the surfaces 45 vand 46, so as to lie within thearea of the orifice 30 but in offset relation with respect to theorifice 42.

Assembly of the device 10 includes the positioning of the lower valvemember 19 within the cylindrical recess formed by the valve casingmember 17, following which the upper valve member 1S is placed injuxtaposed relation, and the bulb member 16 wedged between the edge 36land the upper surface 39 of the member 18. This assemlbly may beconducted `as an automated operation, using a separate station for thepositioning of each of the elements. The result is a completesub-assembly which may be inserted into the open end of the elongatedbarrel 12 after the same has been filled with the iiuid to be dispensed.

Referring to FIGURE in the drawing, the upper portion 14 of the barrel12 is enlarged or fiared to form a shoulder for supporting the lowerperipheral edge of the valve casing member 17. After the filling of thebarrel 12, the device is slid or force-fitted into position, followingwhich the portion 15 is headed over as is known in the art. Owing to thefact that the entire device 10 has been pre-assembled as `asub-assembly, the filling and closing of the marking devices may also beperformed by resort to automated lor semi-automated techniques, therebymaterially reducing the amount of manual labor involved.

During operation of the device, the introduction of air into the barrel12 by means of the bulb 16 follows a path through the orifice 42, theslit 48 and the orifice 30, Air

pressure in pulse form will ca-use a distention of the member 19,causing the slit 48 to open t-o permit the passage of air. When pressureon the bulb is released, the pressure differential built up within thebarrel 12 will move the member 19 against the lower surface 40 -of themember 18, which will then suppo-rt the member 19 in planar conditionwherein the slit 48 is again closed. This Sealing Iaction is assisted bythe large area existing between the slit 48 and the orifice 42, therelatively soft member 19 tending to conform to the lower surface 40.

We wish it to be understood that we do not consider the inventionlimited to the precise details of structure shown and set forth in thisspecification, for obvious modifications will occur to those skilled inthe art to which lthe invention pertains.

We claim:

Pressurizing valve construction for use with a fluid dispensing devicecomprising: an or-ificed valve casing member including a generallyplanar first portion having a centrally disposed orifice and anintegrally formed cylindrical second portion having a headed-over edge,said first and second portions forming va generally cylindrically shapedrecess; a flexible bulb member including a head portion and an arcuatebead portion lying in a plane and having a centrally disposed orificetherein; a first valve member of circular planar configuration andhaving an eccentrically disposed opening therein, a second valve memberof circular planar configuration and having a generally centrallydisposed slit opening extending therethrough; said second valve membercontacting an inner surface of said first portion of said valve casingmember wherein said `slit may overly the centrally disposed lorificethe-rein, said first valve member overlying said second valve memberwherein `said eccentrically disposed opening is in disaligned `relationwith respect to said slit opening, the head portion of said tiexiblebulb member overlying the peripheral portion of said first valve memberand being Iretained in compressed relation thereto by contact thereofwith said headed-over edge of said second cylindrical portion of saidvalve casing member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,329,917 9/ 1943 Lautmann222-209 2,787,249 4/1957 Barlow etal 1Z0-42.4 X FOREIGN PATENTS 642,2088/ 195 0 Great Britain.

SAMUEL F, COLEMAN, Primary Examiner.

